Family Support

The Family Support Service provides home and centre based services to families in the Hornsby, Ku-ring-gai and Ryde local government areas. Services include group work, advocacy, casework, counselling, community development, referral and information. Assistance can be provided to increase parenting skills, manage family behaviours in a positive way, recognise strengths within families, obtain practical assistance and increase the potential for family reconciliation. 

Disability Services

Community Disability Support provides support to individuals with disabilities and their families across the Diocese of Broken Bay through the provision of:

·        Advocacy

·        Support

·        Social Justice in Action

·        Education and Formation 

Recreation and Peer Support programs provide recreational and leisure activities that are appropriate to the age, abilities, cultural background, interest level, and needs of the individual. Activities are flexible to ensure the individual can reach their full potential to participate in community life.

Peer support is generally targeted at children or young adults up to 25 years of age, and matches the individual with a peer of similar age and interests, usually for group activities. 

Respite services aim to strengthen and maintain the primary care relationships between a frail older person or a younger person with a disability and their carers through the provision of flexible and responsive alternatives to the usual care arrangements. Respite services provide meaningful and positive activities and experiences for individuals with a disability.  

Flexible Respite is a service that offers a combination of own home, centre-based, host family and peer support respite and includes day outings and camping trips. Adults and children can access a range of respite care activities including:

·        In-home care at regular and planned times by paid staff. This can be varied according to need and circumstance.

·        Individual out-of-home care by paid staff for recreation activity e.g. taking the young person to the movies, etc.

·        Support with transport and participation in mainstream social activity.

·        Family Holidays – providing a carer to accompany the family.

·        Out of Home community activities including: integration into mainstream youth centre activities. 

Flexible Respite also assists young people with disabilities who are having difficulty accessing respite during before and after school care and vacation care times. The service addresses this gap through the provision of a mixture of out of home and in-home support in the following ways:

·        Supporting the integration of a young person with a disability on a one to one basis into mainstream youth programs.

·        Provision of a direct care worker in the home to offer respite to families in before and after school and school vacation times.

·        Offer of a direct care worker to provide out of home respite in vacation care periods in age appropriate integrated recreational activities. 

The Community Access Day Service provides on-going day-to-day support for service users to gain greater access and participate in community-based activities. The program may focus on continuing education to develop skills and independence in a variety of life areas (e.g. self-help, social skills and literacy and numeracy) or enjoyment, leisure and social interaction. 

The Community Participation Program aims to assist young people with a disability to develop the skills they need to work towards their goals, increase their independence and participate as valued and active members of the community. Waitara Family Centre offers Centre Based with Community Access, in which a person with a disability participates in a range of day activities provided in a centre and in the community. 

Boonah is a service which provides sessional arts tuition to people with a variety of disability types and support needs. The opportunity for people with a disability to participate as fully as possible in arts activities is provided, and awareness to the local community of the talents of those people is highlighted through this service. This service is run from West Pymble. 

Accommodation & Housing

Housing Advocacy and Support provides support including accommodation, outreach and early intervention for single men and families. This program also includes a supported playgroup, run by a Centacare Child Development Worker. The supported playgroup:

·        Provides a social opportunity for children.

·        Helps to build communities and networks.

·        Provides group times involving language, music, movement and games.

·        Creates opportunities for families to meet and support each other.

·        Supports parents through enhancing their parenting skills.

·        Empowers families to become self sufficient and independent in running playgroup.

·        Provides families with information and referral to other community services.

·        Identifies and addresses developmental delay issues of children with parents/carers.

·        Supports people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds by being culturally sensitive and appropriate. 

Where appropriate, linkages are made into other program areas or referrals may be made with and on behalf of the service user. 

Counselling

Family Relationships Counselling provides counselling to adults, young people, couples, and their children at all stages of the relationship cycle including pre-marriage, marriage (including de facto relationships), separation, divorce and remarriage. Counselling supports the target group to establish and maintain valued family relationships as well as counselling about the care, welfare and development of children of the relationship. Family Relationships Counselling is outreached to North Ryde from the Waitara Family Centre. 

Men’s Services

Hey Dad! and Hey Dad! for Separated Dads provides fathers with opportunities to consider and learn more about their role as fathers and how they can increase their parenting skills and relationships with their children. 

Hey Dad! for Indigenous Dads also provides fathers with opportunities to consider and learn more about their role as fathers and how they can increase their parenting skills and relationships with their children. This program has been developed in consultation with Indigenous consultants/community leaders to increase its relevance to indigenous fathers. 

Parenting & Relationship Education

Facilitating Open Couple Communication, Understanding & Study (FOCCUS™) is a self-diagnostic inventory designed to assist couples prepare for marriage and their lives together. It enables couples to earn more about themselves and their unique relationship and to identify and work through various issues before marriage.

This course provides individualised couple feedback on where each partner stands in regard to topic areas important to marriage. The program identifies and explores significant areas for discussion that are relevant to their relationship, in a safe and confidential environment. There are two private sessions, which are facilitated by an accredited FOCCUS™ relationship Educator. 

The Partners For Life group course presents couples with the opportunity to explore their relationship and to grow in knowledge of themselves and their partners. Qualified Relationship Educators present various topics significant to marriage. Couples participate in exercises which enable them to relate the information to their own relationship. The course involves large group input, small group discussions and personal couple sharing. Course topics cover:

·        Expectations of marriage

·        The influence of the family of origin

·        The process of the relationship

·        Self - responsibility in the relationship

·        Effective communication skills

·        Conflict management strategies

·        Sexuality, intimacy, fertility awareness 

What About the Kids (WATK) is a course designed to assist separating parents. This is a two session course for either separated mums or dads but not both partners of the same former relationship.  It provides information to assist participants in understanding and managing their emotions around separation (e.g. loss, grief, and anger). It also assists them understand their children’s feelings and provides information and how to help their children manage these feelings. Major course themes include effective communication, co-operative parenting, and how to avoid or minimise conflict. 

Hey Mum! and Hey Mum! for Separated Mums provides mothers with opportunities to consider and learn more about their role as mothers and how they can increase their parenting skills and relationships with their children. 

Domestic Violence Court Support

The aim of Domestic Violence Court Support is to provide women and children experiencing domestic violence with support, advocacy, referral and information. This is achieved primarily through assisting these women and children to access appropriate legal representation and to effectively navigate the legal system to help put an end to the violence they are experiencing.